Irregular verbs in English

Before we look at the form of the irregular verbs, let’s do a very quick revision of regular verbs:

Form of regular verbs

To form the past simple and past participle, we add “ed” to the base form:

Base form: workPast form: workedPast participle: worked

That’s easy! Now let’s look at the irregular verbs in English. We’ll start with the verb “be” because it’s a special case.

Verb “be”

The verb “be” is a special case because its form changes depending on the subject:

Base form: be

Present simple: I am you are he is she is it is we are you are they are

Past form: I was you were he was she was it was we were you were they were

Past participle: been

Form of other irregular verbs

In English, there are many irregular verbs. By definition, irregular verbs do not follow any logical rules. In this section, you will learn over 40 irregular verbs. For the correct pronunciation of each verb, watch the video at the end of this lesson, below the table.